Seaweed and Linen
Elodie Wallace
Dublin City Council
Elodie sourced the items she used to create her outfit from charity shops in the city centre, a favourite childhood dress, a sports bra, an old table cloth and fabric scraps leftover from previous projects.
Elodie knew she wanted to create an outfit inspired by the sea, her design vision came into focus when she found an oversized cream jacket which she decided to cut in two to create a jacket and skirt co-ord.
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After cutting the jacket Elodie removed the sleeves and used them to add a panel to the jacket to make it longer. She changed the shape of the lapel adding a second buttonhole and changing the buttons. Elodie deconstructed a party dress from her childhood and attached the sleeve detail to the jacket echoing the foam and spray of breaking waves. She used an old table cloth to line the jacket and as a binding at the bottom of the jacket.
The skirt was created from the bottom part of the jacket keeping the existing pockets as a design feature at the front. Elodie added darts to shape the waist of the skirt and used a green ribbon salvaged from Christmas crackers to outline the edge the pockets and the lapel of the jacket. She added the body of the dress to the skirt creating a contrasting flowing layer, again an ode to the sea.
Elodie cut seaweed shapes from an old sports bra and fabric scraps and appliqued them to the skirt, jacket and shoes to emphasise the sea themed inspiration of the outfit. The same scrap fabric was used as a facing for the inside of the jacket and to create a handstitched label.
A final embellishment was added using sequins harvested from the top of the party dress, which she hand stitched onto the jacket, skirt and shoes.
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Elodie researched the impacts of polyester production highlighting the fact that it takes between 200 and 400 years to decompose in landfill.
